Stormy Weather
by StatsGrandma57
Summary: This is a story about Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel. Thanks as always to 2Old4This2 for her excellent beta! Chapter 4 finishes the story!
1. Chapter 1

STORMY WEATHER

Jaina Solo was not happy.

She was supposed to have gone for the weekend to visit her Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara, something she'd really been looking forward to. Her aunt and uncle always made her laugh. But Luke had taken ill. Nothing serious, but Uncle Luke wasn't one to slow down, and Aunt Mara had to all but sit on top of him to keep him in bed. Jaina had suspected all day that it was going to come to that, but actually hearing it brought on part irritation and part depression.

Visiting Mom and Dad was out; they were on Bespin. Dad was in a sabacc tournament, of all things. He'd eschewed playing professionally for years, but Uncle Lando had conned him into rejoining the fold, just this once. With Uncle Lando, nearly everything was a con. She liked him; she just didn't trust him. Dad had told her that that was the only sensible way to view Uncle Lando.

Jacen was busy with his studies, both in veterinary sciences and in the Living Force. Tenel Ka was dealing with problems on Hapes and caring for baby Allana. The couple hadn't even had time to plan a wedding, let alone go through with one. Anakin was in his first year at engineering college, probably partying and playing sabacc, taking away his classmates' credits with a smile. Jarik was with Chewie at Chewie's place on Corellia. She had friends-fellow cadets-but most of them had taken off for the weekend. They only got one of them each standard month, and the base was deserted.

Jaina sat alone in the mess hall, sipping a bad kaf (Dad had said that it was always bad, but at least there was plenty of it, and that was still true), wondering how she was going to pass the weekend. She had a novel, but that was hardly going to cover forty-eight standard hours.

She could take one of the X-wings and barge in on Anakin, but she knew it would just depress her, as well as make her broke; sabacc was one of his passions, and he played it nearly every weekend.

Brendahl, their nanny, would likely welcome her, but Brendahl was growing old and sick and needed her weekends to recover from chasing after Jarik, who was, to put it mildly, a handful. She hoped that Chewie would survive Jarik. who was not exactly easy to handle.

She'd become distant from the friends she'd hung out with before attending the Jedi Praxeum. They had different lives, different priorities. Most had not supported her decision to join the military. They were long ago and far away.

 _I'm nineteen years old,_ she mused sadly, _and I feel so old. And lonely._

She'd tried to connect romantically with a couple of the guys in her class, but it never seemed to

click. They'd ended up staying friendly, but they, too, had moved on, entering new relationships. Most of all, they'd all headed out for the weekend.

Jaina hated it when she was alone like this. She did enjoy being alone at times, but this wasn't being alone, this was being lonely. It took her back to another time...to when she was younger and a lot more foolish, but so much happier.

To the time when she fell, no pun intended, with Jagged Fel.

She'd gone to work with her father one day, when he was starting with a new class of cadets. It was school break, a few weeks before she was headed for the Praxeum, and she and Dad were going to do a quick delivery on the Core Worlds, with her at the helm. She'd become a good pilot and Dad was becoming more trusting about letting her sit in the left-hand seat (although, being her father and the ship being the _Falcon_ , he'd never totally be at ease).

She had just turned fifteen.

And she saw him. He was absolutely gorgeous. She'd listened to her girlfriends giggle over their crushes and the boys they were 'in love' with. These particular members of the opposite sex were, to Jaina's mind, lame. She had trouble fathoming the allure.

But then, there he was.

Dark hair, dark eyes, with an intensity that she could almost reach out and grab. He had a serious expression and his eyes were fixed on Dad as he went through the introduction to the new class. Dad joked around and made the other cadets laugh, but not Jag. He was all business. Despite his intensity, however, Jaina could sense a deep calmness.

She had to force herself not to stare at him. The reaction she was having was one she'd never felt before. It was as if she'd been shot full of a substance that was making her feel deliriously ecstatic, and she craved more and more of it. She also felt terribly self-conscious; she knew she couldn't pull her gaze away.

Jaina wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but she thought he might be looking at her. She felt her cheeks grew hot and she lowered her eyes, not daring to gaze up again. She was afraid

he would look at her and afraid he wouldn't.

She kept her head down, but glanced out the corner of one eye. No, he was looking at Dad, taking in what was being said. Dad, she observed, was a hardass instructor. Yes, he made the cadets laugh, but it was pretty clear that he wasn't going to put up with less than outstanding performance. Well, he'd been that way with her, so she wasn't surprised.

She furtively stole another glance, and she could have sworn that Jagged Fel was looking in her

direction. He was subtle about it, but she knew he was watching her. She gave him a shy smile. He, of course, did not smile in return, but she had yet to see the corners of his mouth turn up.

 _He has such a gorgeous smile_ , she sighed to herself, not able to keep one from her own lips.

"We're just about to break for lunch," Dad announced, "but I want to introduce my daughter, Jaina. I also want to let you know that if any of you of the male persuasion come near her, you will not like the results." This resulted in some nervous tittering. "You'll be with Captain Wedge Antilles after lunch, and you'd better pretend to be paying attention to him at least as well as you did with me." The cadets broke out in laughter again.

Jaina, for her part, was utterly humiliated. _Dad could be such a jerk sometimes_ , she groaned to herself, feeling herself blushing from her face to her chest. That she'd inherited from Mom. It was not a trait she appreciated; it tended to pop up at the worst moments.

Once she'd gotten the _Falcon_ to lightspeed, she was going to ream Dad out…

Her thoughts were interrupted as she accidentally tipped her mug over. "Kriff!" she shouted, trying to run for the serviettes to clean herself up. She was out of uniform, and it was annoying because her collection of civilian clothes was small-there wasn't much space on a training base.

"Jaina," a voice called, seemingly disembodied. There'd been no one else in the mess hall that she'd seen. It was a voice that seemed out of place.

She snapped her head about. Standing before her was none other than Lieutenant Commander Jagged Fel. She gasped.

How long had he been there?

Was she pleased to see him or not?

"Are you all right?" he asked her, noticing the kaf stain on her pale blue shirt.

"I'm fine!"

"You didn't get burnt, did you?" Jag asked solicitiously.

"What're you doing here?" she demanded, in a tone that she instantly regretted. A rush of emotions, longing, desire, betrayal, anger, and a few she couldn't sort out all came out in the terse question.

"I'm on duty this weekend," he answered simply. Jag had graduated and was active duty; unlike the cadets, they got their off-duty days on rotation. "Well, I'm off duty for next twenty-four

standard, then on. Why didn't you take the weekend off?" he asked her.

"Why would you care?" Jaina spat out. He'd broken up with her when he'd gone to attend the Naval Academy, feeling it would be better for both of them. Jaina realized that her heart was still too fragile.

"If you want me to go away and not bother you, I will," Jag said softly to her.

Did she want that? Did she want him to just walk away? Did she want him to stay? What _did_ she want?

"I did have plans, but they were cancelled," she said simply. "I was going to visit my aunt and uncle, but my uncle took sick and my aunt's having to tie him to the bed."

"Your Uncle Luke?"

"He's the only uncle I've got. Well, that's a blood relation, anyway," she said.

Jag shifted from one foot to another. It was not lost on Jaina that he was looking less like the confident officer he was and more like a nervous schoolboy, which was not at all like him. "Mind if I sit down?" he asked her.

"Be my guest," Jaina told him with a wave of her hand, a gesture that was very much Leia's when she really wasn't sure she wanted company.

Jag studied her for several seconds.

Jaina shot back at him, "What?"

"I...I'm glad you're here," Jag told her.

"Why?" Jaina demanded, doing her best to keep her tone neutral and not completely succeeding.

"Because…"

"C'mon, Fel, you can do better than that!" Jaina snapped. "You sweep me off my feet when I'm too young to know any better, you make me think you're in love with me-"

"I was in love with you," Jag said, not raising his voice. "But I knew we couldn't stay together then."

"And why was that?" she snapped.

"Because I knew you were planning to go to the Naval Academy, and I was two years ahead of

you, and you had to go through your Jedi training. I didn't think we should...distract each other."

"So why are you telling me this now?"

"I told you this when we broke up."

"You broke up with me. It wasn't mutual, just in case you've forgotten!" Jaina snapped at him. "Go on. I'd rather be alone right now."

Jag studied her carefully. "No," he said at last.

"You heard me!" Jaina hissed.

"I'm not going anywhere, Jaina."


	2. Chapter 2

STORMY WEATHER

Chapter 2

"I'm going back to my quarters," Jaina said, taking her mug, the one that read, 'I Love My Attitude Problem.' It had been a gift from Aunt Mara during Winter Fete several years back. "And don't follow me!"

How dare he, she thought, keeping her head down so as to not show him that tears were burning her eyes.

"Jaina, we need to talk," Jag said, keeping his voice as level as he could. There was a quaver in it that seldom surfaced.

"No. Apparently you need to talk. There's no 'we.' There hasn't been a 'we' for two years!" Jaina stomped away. If anyone had seen her in action, they'd have sworn that she was interacting with Jag the same way her parents had interacted with each other over two decades earlier.

"And it was the stupidest thing I ever did!" Jag called out to her.

"Yeah, it wa-what?" Jaina stopped in her tracks. "What did you say?"

"I said," Jag said, his level tone elevating, "that it was the stupidest thing I ever did!"

"Well, yeah, it was," Jaina said coldly. "I loved you and you didn't appreciate it. So you're an idiot. You know how I feel about idiots."

Jag cracked a wry smile. "Jaina, everyone knows how you feel about idiots."

"So why are you following me?"

"I said we need to talk."

Jaina stood there, unmoving, but she was nearly dizzy from the emotions bombarding her. Her Force senses, which were a sort of radar for her, were utterly jammed.

"I don't want to talk here," Jaina told him.

"In your quarters?" Jag asked her. It was not spoken salaciously; it was as if he was trying to make her comfortable. He wasn't being particularly successful in this regard.

"No. Somewhere else," Jaina told him.

"We could go to the canteen instead," was Jag's other suggestion.

"No. I'd like to go off base." Jaina didn't trust her fragile emotions, and while the base was quiet, there were officers on duty. The base, like all closed systems, thrived on gossip, rumor and innuendo. She didn't want anyone catching the two of them together and hearing anything they might have to say.

"All right," Jag agreed. "But not in a place where we have to shout to be heard."

"And where we won't run into people we know," Jaina added.

Jag thought for a moment. "I think I know a good place."

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Jag signed out a speeder and the two headed off.

"Where are we going?" Jaina asked.

"You'll see," was Jag's terse response.

The two were quiet as they left the base in the distance. The cities and suburbs soon were behind them, and all around was greenery.

Jag expertly slowed the speeder as they headed into a green meadow. Jaina, who'd spent her life on Coruscant till she was fifteen, gasped as she viewed waterfalls streaming down from the surrounding mountains into a rushing river. There was a blazing palette of flora all around.

"You wanted to go somewhere private," Jag said as he touched the speeder down so gently that Jaina barely noticed.

"Where are we?"

"The Ressl River," Jag answered. He opened the canopy and jumped out, intending to help Jaina down, but she'd hit the ground as quickly as he had.

The waterfall sounds were mixed with the songs of birds flying overhead and hidden in trees. Otherwise, there were no other sounds.

"It's nice," Jaina said, her confusion mounting. She wanted to be here. She didn't want to be here. She couldn't figure anything out…

"Let's walk," Jag suggested. He didn't offer his hand or arm; Jaina wasn't sure if she was relieved

or upset by the lack of said gesture.

She wasn't sure of anything right now.

They walked in silence for a time, watching the white water rapids of the river racing over the rocks, the clear blue sky reflected in it. When they finally arrived at a shallow pool, the emerald water cool and still, Jaina looked sharply at Jag.

"You said you wanted to talk, there's a rock we can sit on," Jaina told him.

Both climbed onto the rock and made themselves comfortable. Jag was still silent.

"What was it you wanted to say? It must've been important if you signed out a speeder and brought me out here."

Jag swallowed. He seemed ill at ease.

"I told you back at the base that I made a stupid mistake," Jag began quietly.

"And was that mistake me?" Jaina asked. She was not trying to demonstrate anger or impatience, but Jag seemed less willing to talk then before.

"Yes. No. The mistake-the mistake was breaking up with you!" Jag was not given to emotional displays, and he almost choked as he nearly shouted it out. He couldn't look at her as he said it.

"I'm over here! Talk to me," Jaina said, deliberately softening her tone. _Force, don't fail me now! she_ _pleaded silently._

"That's what I wanted to tell you," Jag said quietly.

Jaina shook her head, her ire rising. "And that's it? That's all?"

Jag glanced at her furtively. "Well...not exactly."

"Maybe it wasn't a mistake," Jaina told him. "You told me it was a mistake back in the corridor. Why'd you bring me all the way out here?"

"I guess...I don't know...would you reconsider...taking up where we left off?"

Jaina had wanted him to say this for so long, but now that she was listening to it, she wasn't sure. Her Force sense was a mess, giving her no clear guide, and her emotions were tangled even more.

"I love you, Jaina," Jag said softly, extending his hand and gently taking hers. Like her mother, her hands were small and his enveloped hers easily.

"I love you, too, Jag," Jaina said. "It's just...I don't know. It hurt me so much when you left."

"I know."

"You made me cry, and you know I don't cry," Jaina said, her tone accusing.

"I was using my head, not my heart," Jag said. "That's what I do when I'm running from myself. I didn't realize then that what I needed was to look at what I felt, but it was so much easier to say, let's concentrate on our careers. Mostly, I didn't feel I could give you what you needed."

"Like I said, maybe it wasn't a mistake," Jaina reiterated. "I worked very hard on my studies at the Praxium, and I've busted my hump here." _And I've been damn lonely doing it, she added mentally_. "And what makes you think you know what I needed, anyway?"

Jag was unusually awkward, not able to look up at her, even though he could feel her amber eyes piercing him. They were still clasping hands.

For two years, Jaina had dreamed of this moment, and now that it had come, she wasn't sure how she felt. Why did it always have to be so kriffing complicated?! She loved this man! She had always hoped that he'd come back to her. She'd expected, perhaps unrealistically, to jump at it. Instead, she was an emotional mess.

"Let's walk again," she suggested. The two walked along the river, silently trying to sort out their thoughts.

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The river walk was restful and quiet.

Jag was the one to break the silence first.

"You know, you don't have to give me an answer right now," Jag said softly. "I know I put you through a lot, and I know you might need time."

"Thank you for that. I love you, Jag. I just...I just don't know."

 _I need to talk to someone_ , Jaina thought. _Someone who gets it. Someone who gets me_.

She hoped that that person would be available once they returned to base.


	3. Chapter 3

STORMY WEATHER

Chapter 3

"If you want to share dinner later, I'm here, but if it's too soon, I understand," Jag said to Jaina as he walked her back to her quarters.

"Thank you," Jaina said. "We'll talk. I promise."

But first she needed to make a comm.

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"Are you comfortable, Minister?" the massage therapist asked Leia Organa-Solo.

"I'm fine, but it's been almost five years since I was Minister of State," Leia said, laughing.

"I know, but I guess it sticks with you," the therapist said, feeling a bit awkward.

"You're hardly the first," Leia assured her. There was a chiming sound. "Oh, kriff, that's my comm. Can you hand me my bag?"

The therapist handed her a handbag that was larger than some valises. Leia scrambled around inside, digging for her comm.

"Jaina!" Leia said with delight in her voice. "You're at Luke and Mara's, right? What idiot thing has your uncle done now?"

"Uncle Luke's sick, so Aunt Mara said not to come. She's probably having a lot of trouble keeping him in bed," Jaina said, a telltale quaver in her voice.

"What's wrong, honey?" Leia's Force sense wasn't fully developed, but her Mother sense was out in full force.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Well, I'm sitting here wrapped in a towel at the spa, so it's not like I'm going anywhere for a while."

"Do you have the green mud on your face?" Jaina asked, smothering a chuckle.

"That was half an hour ago. But for the love of the Force, don't go to visual. I've already told you I'm wearing nothing but a towel."

Jaina couldn't help but laugh. Anyone who considered her mother humorless didn't know Leia very well.

"Mom, something happened to me a little while ago," Jaina said. Leia felt her Mother Senses ping up to High Alert.

"You're not hurt, are you? Leia asked, shutting her eyes, and praying that Jaina had not been doing Stupid Pilot Tricks, a game that the pilots in training enjoyed. She'd never been injured doing them before, but there was always a first time.

"No, nothing like that. Well, sort of like that. I mean, I'm not injured, not physically, it's something else."

"Tell me what's going on." Leia signaled to the massage therapist that this might take a while.

"It's Jag."

"What's up with Jag?" Leia asked, trying to keep her voice neutral. In her experience, dealing with children and their issues required more diplomatic skills than the most contentious political exchanges and were at least twice as complicated.

"He came by today. He wanted to talk," Jaina continued.

"And what did he want to talk about?"

"He says the stupidest mistake he ever made was breaking up with me."

"Typical male. They're slow, honey. You should know this from watching your father and brothers."

Jaina laughed a little; her mom could somehow always get her to do that.

"Speaking of which, how's Dad doing?"

"Still winning, last I heard. So what else did Jag say?"

"He wants to get back together," Jaina said, her voice flat.

"Hmm. Sounds like you're being cautious about this. Which is good," Leia reassured her.

"I want to go back to him, Mom. But I'm so kriffing mad at him!" Jaina was half-laughing and half-crying now.

Leia remembered back to meeting Han Solo more than two decades ago. She was exactly the same age as Jaina was now, and her feelings had been a confusing cobweb of push and pull in every conceivable direction. It had made her dizzy and angry and ecstatic and sad and soft and hard...and that kiss...that first kiss…

Calm down, Leia, she told herself. This is about Jaina, not you. Focus.

"You have every right to be furious with him," Leia told her. "He dumped you. And I'd be nervous, too."

"I'm not nervous...okay, I'm nervous...I don't know what I am, Mom!"

"And that's perfectly normal when you're around a guy you love," Leia told her.

"It is?"

"You've heard all about your father and me," Leia reminded her.

"I heard that you fought for three years," Jaina said.

"There was that, but what was behind it was a little more complicated. Actually, a lot more complicated," Leia laughed gently.

"He invited me to dinner tonight," Jaina said. "I don't even know if I want to go to dinner, let alone get back together!"

"Let me give you a piece of advice. Go to dinner. I hope military base food's improved since the war, but somehow, I doubt it."

"It's pretty awful."

"Do it anyway. Dinner's also a good place to talk."

"He took me to the Ressl River to talk. We hardly said anything."

"Food helps. Get off the base for dinner. Take it from someone who spent five years eating military rations. The first time your father cooked for me, I thought I'd gone to another universe. Of course, I was horribly sick at the time, but I can still taste the hot buttered rum."

"I thought you said he gave you food!"

"He did. Made me a lovely soup and some fruit juice. Jaina, honey, you seem as if you want me to tell you what to do, but you really don't. Trust me on this."

"But I still don't know what to do!"

"I will say: go to dinner. I'm sure he'll take you somewhere nice."

"There're limits on a Navy pilot's pay."

"Knowing what I do of Jag, he'll do the best he can. Jaina, advice is cheap, and I'm loathe to give it, but pay attention to your heart. It'll tell you what to do. I only really started living once I listened to mine. You need to have dinner with Jag and the gods know I need this massage. Comm me later, honey."

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, sweetie. Now go forth and conquer."


	4. Chapter 4

STORMY WEATHER

Chapter 4

After speaking to her mother, Jaina felt some measure of relief. She was still both hopeful and hurting, but she took comfort in the assurances that what she was going through was perfectly normal.

 _Why does it have to be like this?_ she asked herself irritably, as she paced about her room like an angry gundark.

Was she flattered that he'd come back? Most definitely. Did she question his motives? Absolutely. He'd dumped her when he left for the Naval Academy, putting his career above her needs-and maybe his own? Why was he saying differently now? What had changed?

"Why do you have to make this so kriffing difficult?" she snarled at Jag. She stopped herself from punching the wall; damage to barracks was looked upon poorly, as had been made evident when some of her fellow cadets decided an indoor water fight would be just the thing to alleviate the boredom of routine.

The breakup had been traumatic for Jaina, despite her outward appearance. She'd kept her head up and had applied herself diligently to her Jedi training and her military studies. She was aware that her family knew how much she was hurting, but she'd really only opened up to Leia and Han. Of course, two of her brothers and her aunt and uncle knew via the Force how horrible it had been for her, but she'd never discussed it with them.

She remembered her mother insisting that her father promise not to hurt—or rather not kill-Jag. That memory actually amused her, but she was glad that Mom had strong-armed Dad into reining in his fatherly impulses. Besides, if anyone was going to kill Jag, it was going to be her-and she'd been tempted more than once.

But Jaina also remembered how alive she'd felt with Jag. How kind he'd been to her, how he'd laughed at her warped sense of humor, how he gently coaxed her to show her tender, vulnerable side to him by making her feel loved and unique. She remembered the first time he took her hand in his, how large and warm it felt; the first time he ever so casually put his arm around her shoulder, the first hug they shared, and the first time they kissed...it made her tingle to think about it. And then, that first time...it was magical. She'd felt joined to him, body and soul. That feeling had never left her; it had only been filled in by heartache at not being able to be with him.

She loved him then, and, she realized, she loved him still. But the idea of trying again had her mind swirling about madly. _The Force isn't going to help me with this one,_ she thought. For one thing, she'd need clarity of mind, and her mind was anything but clear.

Could they pick up where they left off? Start new? What if he decided to leave her again? She wasn't sure she could bear that. She was a strong young woman, but like her mother, her heart was a fragile thing. Acknowledging that was painful for her.

And he was graduating. The odds were that he would be stationed far from her. She'd never even contemplated what effects that would have on a relationship with him. There would be visits, of course, but it wouldn't be the same as being near him. And what if the relationship couldn't survive the separation? Another breakup would kill her inside.

Walking by the river, not much had been said, but when Jag had said, "I love you, Jaina," it had softened her heart far more than she cared to admit. There was anger, and pain, but there was a sense of life that had awakened in her, which was making it ridiculously complicated.

 _Pay attention to your heart_...her mother's words came back to her, and kept coming back. Again, and again.

"I've gotta get out of this room," Jaina muttered, grabbing her passcard and satchel.

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Jaina left the base by the exit that was closest to town. It was one of the least-used exits by the cadets. The officers were a different story, but there were few on duty this weekend. She'd hoped not to be recognized, but as she neared the exit door, the desk officer called out to her.

"Cadet Solo, don't forget to sign out," the Tagruda male said to her politely.

"Sir. Sorry."

"Thank you."

Jaina knew this particular lieutenant; fortunately, he was on the quiet side, not much of a gossip. He was married to a fellow pilot based on a different planet and lived off base. She wondered how they made it work.

She headed for the Caridan District, which was essentially the downtown area outside of the base. It was a substantial walk, but Jaina liked physical activity; unlike meditating, it actually did help to clear her head. When the cadets were allowed off base after hours but had to remain planetside, they'd frequent some of the nightclubs that featured music and dancing, but Jaina had begun going to them less and less. She was determined to repeat her father's feat of graduating at the top of the class, and she admitted to herself that the scene had become boring. There were only so many drinking games one could play and only so many new bands worth listening to.

Whether she could name it or not, she was longing for a real connection. The kind of connection her mom and dad had. They'd had their share of shouting matches over the years, but it was clear that they loved each other in a way Jaina had only begun to understand. She'd watched Jacen and Tenel Ka, too-they were having their ups and downs, but they had a strong attachment and Jaina thought about how they looked at each other.

It was the same way Jag had looked at her when he found her grabbing a kaf, and even more so when they were at the river.

Was it a different look then before? He'd gazed at her with tenderness and desire when she was fifteen and he was seventeen. But the way he'd looked at her today was something...more. She didn't know what it was, but she had to admit that, at least watching him over the past two years, he'd grown up a little. She'd grown up a lot, but then again, as her mother had advised her, males were slow.

The Caridan District was humming with life; shops, cantinas, and restaurants were filled with patrons from hundreds of planets—beings drinking, playing cards, chatting, arguing, laughing, and kissing...

Jaina wanted to kiss Jag. Desperately. She longed for all of his senses to invade hers. The idea made her tingle all over-both from desire and from fear.

Maybe, she decided, Uncle Luke was right: the future was always in motion. There was no way to tell what it held; Jedis were not inclined to be prognosticators, but rather they tuned into what was at hand. She was trained to be a courageous fighter and, she reminded herself, she'd been brought up never to run from danger. To be cautious, yes, but she was expected to face it.

Nothing had ever scared her as much as Jag telling her he wanted to talk today.

 _Go forth and conquer,_ Mom had instructed her.

The biggest thing one had to overcome in military training was fear. Jaina thought, why should this be any different?

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Jaina had walked back to base much more quickly than she had when she went into town. She was grateful that the same lieutenant was still on duty; shift change would happen soon, and the next officer might not possess the same quality of discretion that the Tagrudan did. He did have to remind her to sign back in, but all he did was smile gently.

"Well, here goes nothing," Jaina said softly to herself, feeling her heart pounding as she walked towards the quarters of the senior cadets. She kept her steps deliberate and slow; more than

once she was tempted to turn back, but the fact was that...she loved him. And they deserved a chance. Her parents had always said that at least for them, love only came once in a lifetime.

She hesitated in front of Jag's quarters. What if he wasn't there? What if he'd changed his mind?

 _Well, I'm not going to know anything if I don't knock,_ she told herself, tentatively rapping her knuckles against the door. She felt naked and vulnerable standing there.

Then the door began to open, and Jag flashed her the warmest, sweetest smile she'd ever seen on him.

"I was wondering...are you hungry?" Jaina asked him.

His smile grew even wider. "As a matter of fact, I am. But before we go, and you don't have to say yes, would it be okay if I kissed you?"

"I thought you'd never ask," she said, smiling at him. They wrapped their arms around each other, and their lips met.

 _This was the best decision I ever made,_ Jaina thought happily. _Whatever happens, happens._ _But right now, we're here. Together._


End file.
